Conor McGregor tore ACL training with Rory MacDonald prior to UFC 189

Prior to UFC 189, where Conor McGregor was initially slated to fight Jose Aldo for the UFC featherweight championship, McGregor injured his knee prior to the bout. Aldo then injured his ribs, and was replaced by Chad Mendes, who McGregor defeated via TKO to claim the interim featherweight championship.

Unbeknownst to the MMA community, McGregor had trained with Rory MacDonald, and torn nearly his entire ACL leading up to UFC 189. In John Kavanagh’s new book, he recalls being in Dublin when he received a text from one of McGregor’s training partners about the situation.

“Artem explained that Conor and Rory MacDonald – a Canadian welterweight who was scheduled to take on the champion, Robbie Lawler, in UFC 189 – had been training together that afternoon,” Kavanagh writes. “Nothing strenuous, just a bit of grappling. But during their session, Rory landed awkwardly on Conor’s left knee – the same knee he had injured against Max Holloway.”

Kavanagh goes on to explain that while he wanted McGregor to have an MRI to determine the severity of the injury, McGregor refused, and opted to have a stem cell injection in Germany.

The injury healed throughout McGregor’s training camp, and as they say, the rest is history.

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